Delight: Prime Minister David Cameron pictured with his wife Samantha and their newborn daughter Florence shortly after her birth at the Royal Cornwall Hospital in 2010

The surgeon who delivered Prime Minister David Cameron's fourth child, has been allowed to continue working for more than 20 years despite concerns being raised over his performance on more than 20 occasions.

Obstetrician and gynaecologist Rob Jones was allowed to continue working despite a series of blunders including the death of a baby in 2010 for which he was attributed blame.

The Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust is now facing legal action from 60 female patients following a series of serious errors.

He delivered Mrs Cameron's child at the Royal Cornwall Hospital just seven months after the death of a baby in January 2010 for which he was attributed blame.

Colleagues even attempted to prevent him from working alone and warned that patients were being put at risk.

Medical director of the NHS, Sir Bruce Keogh, called for public auditing of doctors' performance last night and for them to be properly bound to professional standards.

Mr Jones worked for the Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust between 1992 and May last year when he was suspended after concerns had been raised about his care on 23 occasions.

The 64-year-olds performance was first investigated by the trust in 1997 when hospital chiefs became aware that they had received more complaints against Mr Jones than any of his colleagues.

After he was finally suspended when NHS chiefs decided it was unrealistic to retrain him after so many mistakes over such a long period of time, he took himself off the medical register which meant that the General Medical Council could not begin disciplinary measures.

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Cases against Mr Jones include a hysterectomy that went wrong leaving a patient in pain and needing four more operations to correct the blunder, a baby who died at just two days old from severe brain damage, and a grandmother whose routine surgery went wrong leaving her in agony for ten years.

The potential 60 cases of legal action come after the NHS Trust already paid out £9million after a baby was born brain damaged back in 1993 after Mr Jones missed warning signs in the mother's condition.

Following an initial investigation into his performance in 1997, he was investigated again in 1998, but Trust bosses decided it was too big a task to examine records after a nurse highlighted 15 cases of concern in 2001.

Employer: Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro where obstetrician and gynaecologist Rob jones worked for two decades

He was investigated once more in 2007 and kept his job after persuading the Trust's then medical director to take no action when a review of 45 cases found 'significant surgical incompetence'.

College lecturer Carole Gill is planning to take legal action against the trust after her baby daughter Maggie died two days after being born brain damaged in January 2010. Mr Jones and colleagues had failed to spot acute pancreatitis while Miss Gill was pregnant.

Visit: Samantha Cameron and daughter Florence pictured on a return visit to the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro a year on from her birth in 2011

He was suspended following that case, but returned to work just a month later.

An inquiry of cases involving Mr Jones between 2010 and last year was finally launched after an anonymous letter was sent to Downing Street raising concerns and was passed onto the Trust.

That review found that 57 women needed further examination after having been treated by Mr Jones and an extra 52 suffered complications.

Of the 57 needing further examination, 50 have since been seen and some are said to be awaiting test results.

Almost 70 women were felt to be 'at risk' according to the investigation.

A total of 55 complaints have been received since November 2012.

He was finally declared unfit to return to work in April last year by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

Sir Bruce Keogh said: 'If a doctor doesn't know what the hell he is doing, how can anyone help them or the patients they are treating?

'There is no excuse for any doctor or hospital not to examine performance properly.'

Royal Cornwall Hosptials Trust issued an apology to the women and their families for the distress caused and conceded that the concerns over Mr Jones' performance should have been addressed more urgently.

Martin Watts, Chairman at RCHT said:' On behalf of the Trust I wish to unreservedly apologise to those women and their families for the pain, distress and anxiety caused by the practice of former Obstetric and Gynaecology Consultant Mr Rob Jones.

'The Independent Organisational Learning Review commissioned by the current Trust Board confirms that concerns identified about some of Mr Jones’ practice should have been addressed with more vigour and urgency.

'We must fully acknowledge the mistakes made – apologise and learn from them – whilst also recognising the significant progress continuing to be made by our dedicated staff to secure better and safer care for the people of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.'

The report showed that almost 95 per cent of 2,400 women who Mr Jones cared for since 2010 had no cause for concern.

The Medical Defence Union apologised on behalf of Mr Jones to patients who suffered complications. It added that he was only ever made aware of two cases where concerns had been raised about him and that he had co-operated fully with those inquiries.

A final Independent Case Note Review Report is expected to be released by the end of the month.